Home » Routes » Europe » Wales » Snowdonia National Park » Low Level and Easier Walks in Snowdonia » Llangelynin and Old Tracks from Rowen

Llangelynin and Old Tracks from Rowen

By Dave Roberts   

on May 1, 2016    No ratings yet.

Posted as a walk in – Europe, Low Level and Easier Walks in Snowdonia, Snowdonia National Park, The Carneddau, Wales

Llangelynin and Old Tracks from Rowen

Route Essentials

Route Summary

Mid level walk into the foothills of the Carneddau.

See the end of the article for local information about parking, public transport facilities, pubs and cafes.

Distance

9.29 km

Ascent

426 m

Time

2 hours

Calculate the time using Naismith’s Rule and factor in your own pace.

Start Location

Rowen

Difficulty

Moderate Walk

Hazards

Weather Forecast:

Met Office Snowdonia Mountain Weather

Check out our Best Mountain Weather Forecast?
Remember that we cannot outline every single hazard on a walk – it’s up to you to be safe and competent. Read up on Mountain Safety , Navigation and what equipment you’ll need. 

Llangelynin and Old Tracks from Rowen Ordnance Survey Map and GPX File Download

View the full route map

Download file for GPS

Llangelynin and Old Tracks from Rowen

This moderate walks starts in the quiet Snowdonia village of Rowen, taking in forests, Roman roads, Bronze Age remains, hills as well as a remote church on the hillside. This walk also passes the Youth Hostel at Rowen, and could easily be started from there.

1 Start the walk from the middle of the village, walking past the Ty Gwyn Hotel pub, and uphill past quaint cottages until you arrive at a junction to your right (you’ll know you’ve gone too far as the road becomes very very steep!)

llangelynnin_010

2 Follow the minor road for 1.25km until the road forks left and right. Turn left here towards the wooded hill side, where the road begins to ascend.

llangelynnin_011

3 The road soon gives way to a track after the final house (which is a base for the Scouts) and begins to zig-zag steeply uphill. This is clearly an old track, and it must have felt like penance to those who followed it to church on Sundays! This is a Woodland Trust forest, and there are a number of interesting looking paths leading off, but you need to continue on upwards.

The track soon eases off as it leaves the forest, and continues to climb at a steadier pace between two high walls all the way to Llangelynin Church.

llangelynnin_031

4 The Church at Llangelynin is in a remote location, and is quite a spectacular spot. It was closed when we walked past (a sleety day in early March), but in milder months you may get lucky. It’s still a fascinating place, and would be even more atmospheric if the mist descended!

5 Continue to follow the track past the church, and you may spot a few cars parked to your right as there’s a minor road that is used to access the church (no, we didn’t tell you, and that would have been too easy!). Keep to the left along the track and below the craggy hill that’s called Craig Celynin, after the saint related to the church. This would be worth the short walk to the summit, but time was against us today, and we had to continue onwards.

llangelynnin_026

You soon join the ancient track that crosses this upland, and it ascends to the shallow col to the right of Craig Celynin before contouring around the hill for around 2km. It’s easy to follow, and you may even spot some of the ancient stone circles along the way. There is a footpath that cuts 1km off the route half way along, but it is difficult to follow and the time saved will probably be lost as you’re left scratching your head as you’ve missed the well camouflaged stone stile half way along!

llangelynnin_027

6 The track eventually reaches the old Roman Road where you need to turn left. It’s worth keeping an eye out for the burial chamber noted on the map around half way to the Youth Hostel as it’s right next to the track This is a good track that’s easy to follow, but eroded in places and brings you down past the Rowen YH and then the tarmac road continues steeply downhill towards the village.

llangelynnin_031

We found the Ty Gwyn Hotel in Rowen was an ideal post walk stop, serving food and some decent real ales. The real fire was really welcome on a cold day like this one!

llangelynnin_032

Local Information and Recommended Maps and Guidebooks

Route Summary:

Mid level walk into the foothills of the Carneddau.

Route Start Location: Rowen

Distance
 Ascent
 Time
9.29 km 426 m 2 hours

Calculate the time using Naismith’s Rule and factor in your own pace.

Activivity Type: Moderate Walk

Summits and Places on this Route

Facilities

Ty Gwyn Hotel in Rowen is recommended.

Hazards

Remember that we cannot outline every single hazard on a walk – it’s up to you to be safe and competent. Read up on Mountain Safety , Navigation and what equipment you’ll need.

Parking :

Public Transport:

Traveline for UK Public Transport

Weather Forecast:

Met Office Snowdonia Mountain Weather

Check out our Best Mountain Weather Forecast?

Recommended Maps: 

Guidebooks:

Please rate this

Dave Roberts

Dave Roberts founded Walk Eryri in 2004, with the aim of providing routes that are off the beaten track. Walk Eryri is now part of Mud and Routes which continues to provide more off beat routes and walks in Snowdonia and beyond. Dave has been exploring the hills of Eryri for over thirty years, and is a qualified Mountain Leader. Dave also established Walk up Snowdon, Walk up Scafell Pike and Walk up Ben Nevis just to mention a few.

More Posts by Dave Roberts

Leave a Reply